Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics | Pew Social & Demographic Trends

Hispanics: The net worth of Hispanic households decreased from $18,359 in 2005 to $6,325 in 2009. The percentage drop—66%—was the largest among all groups. Hispanics derived nearly two-thirds of their net worth in 2005 from home equity and are more likely to reside in areas where the housing meltdown was concentrated. Thus, the housing downturn had a deep impact on them. Their net worth also diminished because of a 42% rise in median levels of debt they carried in the form of unsecured liabilities (credit card debt, education loans, etc.).

Blacks: The net worth of black households fell from $12,124 in 2005 to $5,677 in 2009, a decline of 53%. Like Hispanics, black households drew a large share (59%) of their net worth from home equity in 2005. Thus, the housing downturn had a strong impact on their net worth. Blacks also took on more unsecured debt during the economic downturn, with the median level rising by 27%.

Whites: The drop in the wealth of white households was modest in comparison, falling 16% from $134,992 in 2005 to $113,149 in 2009. White households were also affected by the housing crisis. But home equity accounts for relatively less of their total net worth (44% in 2005), and that served to lessen the impact of the housing bust. Median levels of unsecured debt among whites rose by 32%.

Asians: In 2005 median Asian household wealth had been greater than the median for white households, but by 2009 Asians lost their place at the top of the wealth hierarchy. Their net worth fell from $168,103 in 2005 to $78,066 in 2009, a drop of 54%. Like Hispanics, they are geographically concentrated in places such as California that were hit hard by the housing market meltdown. The arrival of new Asian immigrants since 2004 also contributed significantly to the estimated decline in the overall wealth of this racial group. Absent the immigrants who arrived during this period, the median wealth of Asian households is estimated to have dropped 31% from 2005 to 2009. Asians account for about 5% of the U.S. population.

Related articles

• Rich growing more wealthy on the backs of the poor,exploited and oppressed (americanunion.wordpress.com)
• Susan Scrupski: Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics | Pew Social & Demographic Trends (pewsocialtrends.org)

Making It In The U.S.: More Than Just Hard Work | Minnesota Public Radio News

Making It In The U.S.: More Than Just Hard Work | Minnesota Public Radio News
Morning Edition, September 15, 2011

Here's a startling figure: The typical white family has 20 times the wealth of the median black family. That's the largest gap in 25 years. The recession widened the racial wealth gap, but experts say it's also due to deeply ingrained differences in things such as inheritance, home ownership, taxes and even expectations.

And that's the difference. Study after study shows that white families are more likely than blacks and Hispanics to enjoy certain economic advantages — even when their incomes are similar. Often it's the subtle things: help from Mom and Dad with a down payment on a home or college tuition, or a tax break on money passed from one generation to the next.

Tom Shapiro of Brandeis University has tracked hundreds of families for almost 30 years and says the gap perpetuates itself.

"The larger the amount of financial wealth a family starts with, the more financial wealth it accumulated over that period of time," he says.

In other words, it's easier to get richer if you already are. Since blacks and Hispanics are less likely to have much wealth to begin with, they're less likely to have money to invest in the stepping stones to success — a small business, college or home.

Shapiro says inheritance is a big factor when it comes to the racial wealth gap. White families are four times more likely than blacks to inherit. When they do, the median inheritance is 10 times greater.

This means no home equity to draw upon and no mortgage interest deduction to ease the cost of housing. recent study by the Pew Research Center
Hispanics and blacks are the nation’s two largest minority groups, making up 16% and 12% of the U.S. population respectively.


Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks, Hispanics

Moreover, since the official end of the recession in mid-2009, the housing market in the U.S. has remained in a slump while the stock market has recaptured much of the value it lost from 2007 to 2009. Given that a much higher share of whites than blacks or Hispanics own stocks— as well as mutual funds and 401(k) or individual retirement accounts (IRAs)—the stock market rebound since 2009 is likely to have benefited white households more than minority households.

Related articles

• Making It In The U.S.: More Than Just Hard Work (npr.org)
• Documentary on Largest U.S. Mass Execution (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)

Better Lives for Mexicans Cut Allure of Going North

Economic, demographic and social changes in Mexico are suppressing illegal immigration as much as the poor economy or legal crackdowns in the United States.

A growing body of evidence suggests that a mix of developments — expanding economic and educational opportunities, rising border crime and shrinking families — are suppressing illegal traffic as much as economic slowdowns or immigrant crackdowns in the United States.

 “I’m not going to go to the States because I’m more concerned with my studies,” said Angel Orozco, 18. Indeed, at the new technological institute where he is earning a degree in industrial engineering, all the students in a recent class said they were better educated than their parents — and that they planned to stay in Mexico rather than go to the United States. 

 American census figures analyzed by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center also show that the illegal Mexican population in the United States has shrunk and that fewer than 100,000 illegal border-crossers and visa-violators from Mexico settled in the United States in 2010, down from about 525,000 annually from 2000 to 2004. Although some advocates for more limited immigration argue that the Pew studies offer estimates that do not include short-term migrants, most experts agree that far fewer illegal immigrants have been arriving in recent years.

Pew Hispanic Center 
Immigration

Almost all of the Center's research, regardless of topic, includes separate tabulations of data for U.S.-born and foreign-born Hispanics. The documents listed here focus specifically on trends in migration flows, the characteristics of the foreign-born population and attitudes towards immigration policy issues.

Related articles

• Illiberal Immigration - Victor Davis Hanson - Townhall Conservative (gds44.wordpress.com)
• Report: Most Illegal Immigrants Come From Mexico (usnews.com)
• Just Another Racist Mexican May Day Socialist Communist Party Hate The Capitalist American Whitie Rally! America Sure Is Going Down The Crapper, Thank You Mexico! (edschultzmsnbc.wordpress.com)
• Now let us praise labour-market integration (northernbarbarians.wordpress.com)